HENRY J. ALLES

Biography Henry J.Alles (1965, Slochteren, NL)/ Helmer Andersen (1969, Visby, SE)

1965-1993

Henry Alles was born on the 13th of April 1965 in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands on top of the new wealth of the Netherlands, natural gas. In 1985 he went to Aberdeen where he tried to find work in the oil-industry as a 20 year old trained process operator. There he paid a first visit to an art-gallery. This visit became a landmark for his interest in the arts.

After one year he returns from his journey abroad and starts taking studies for environmental conservation. The studies get him a bachelor degree and a stronger desire for the arts even more. His music develops from new wave to composed pieces which revere to the New York school of noise. And he starts creating visual installations and organises an exhibition about environment and art at the institute where he studies.

 

1994-1998

 

In 1994 with a growing need to stage his ideas he starts a co-operation with a professional printer. During three years they organise concerts, show movies and produce their very own style of sound art, art-concepts and even art-lollypops. In 1995 they create a small festival in commemoration of Mischa Hellmann. This artist of whom work is shown is entirely fictional but the audience and the media assumed the opposite. The festival and the use of a fiction points out Henry’s strong interest in combining historical facts, audience participation and the use of a mix of media.

At the end of 1997 Henry starts working on the concept of Vista Works. Vista Works being visual, informational, sounding & theatrical art works. The works vary from music for theatre play to semi-scientific installations. The topicality, social environment and contact with the audience are an important part of his work.

 

1999-2000

By 1999 he starts making up more and more a vocabulary of his own; conceptionalism, archaeology of the most recent history and the marsian approach. He starts creating a large archive of ‘found’ slides as a kind of Dutch documentary. Very important is the further development of the family history of Mischa Hellmann and the arrival of alter ego Helmer Andersen, the fictional grandson of Mischa Hellmann.

Henry tells stories. He consciously chooses his subjects, a starting point or a response to a question being asked. From that point on he focuses on limiting the possibilities or finding restrains, in other words; making rules for the game. An example is the First Dutch Jigsaw Puzzle Café. He creates persons and situations. And makes connections between them and what we assume to be reality. He strives to construct fictional stories which are contemporary imaginations containing universal traits. And he likes to think that these fictions can be better imaginations of the truth then the reconstruction of real stories.

Most of his works are temporary. They are art-moments. The production and creation of his artwork are footnotes in his evolution, his work and in his self-made history.

 

2001- 2002

After getting a large grand from the government he starts developing a new installation based upon the works of Mischa Hellmann. Although he is very satisfied with the designs and research which are a good contribution to his work he is not able to get it produced. The work it selve seems not to be the reason why he was able to make so many things in public before. The artworks are not the reason why he is asked regularly to contribute to a public happening. He himself had to acknowledge the role of the performer Henry. Henry himself and the gamesome character he gives to his work and presentation have a special attraction to the audience.

In the mean time he also co-operates in social theatre with Sjoerd Wagenaar, contributes music to theatre and dance. Especially in the theatre he thinks he is able to show his ability to derive valuable meaning form large quantities of information and use it.

 

2003-2004

By 2003 Henry writes a lecture called ‘Hyper-Project’ in which he directly points out the large difference between project-art and art-projects and the immense importance of the remaining photography of a project-art artwork. The lecture becomes an work of art itself.

Important to see is that by now Henry and Helmer Andersen both produce a lot of work. Henry digs into the world of facts, Helmer digs himself out. Henry the Archaeologist, Helmer the Myth. Helmer asks; “Does the lair of the sea serpent really exist or exists the source of these kind of myths in every human being? And makes a house out of seaweed. Both their work is about conception and perception. But differ a lot.

In the years following Henry develops by art projects with teens, video, teaching bachelor-students and developing art-exhibitions.

 

2005-2008

 

A hallucinating time working with the PeerGrouP, a theatre group that works in rural areas. Without any plans Henry ends up being the scriptwriter and director of several plays in villages and fields. And as an artist-curator he organises two exhibitions and a 50000 m2 land art project called The Ministry of Peer.

Helmer steps out into the world with a beautiful performance in 2005 in Oakland, California and from then on wants to work merely on a performance planned for the 16^th of July 2014.

By 2008 Henry presents himself as ‘Imagecount’, archeologist of the most recent history and storyteller, producing five so-called Wander Tales of Veenhuizen. The narrative element in his work is still becoming more and more important. What strikes as being odd is the disappearance of Helmer Andersen between the summer of 2005 and 2008. He supposedly was living in Dresden and showed up in Denmark, august 2008, in the Footprints-project. In a collaborations with Henry. Resulting in a beautiful performance, a book and yet another disappearance of Helmer.

 

2009

 

Staging ideas is part of producing art. Henry initiates a portable artist in residence in cooperation with the PeerGrouP. And started working on a round table project together with Elles Kiers. A renewed vocabulary: house, table, food?

 

 

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